NEW YORK, Feb 17 ― Oil and gold rose yesterday after Nato and the United States said Russia was increasing its troop build-up near Ukraine, while a dovish reading of minutes from the Federal Reserve's meeting last month helped stocks rebound on Wall Street.
Stronger-than-expected US retail sales data and higher inflation readings from Canada and the UK added to the outlook for tighter monetary policy worldwide, but geopolitical tensions kept markets for the most part focused on the Ukraine standoff.
Nato questioned Moscow's stated willingness to negotiate a solution to the crisis, one of the deepest in East-West relations in decades, and accused Russia of increasing its massive military build-up surrounding Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken backed the assessment, an outlook that lifted the price of safe-haven gold and boosted crude oil along with related assets as supply would be further constrained by an invasion.
“There are not really any signs of de-escalation. That's going to put commodities likely on firmer footing given that extent supply and inventories are really low,” said Bipan Rai, North America head of FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets.
US crude futures rose US$1.59 (RM6.65) to settle at US$93.66 a barrel, while Brent settled up US$1.53 at US$94.81.
Sharp gains earlier in Asian equity markets on Tuesday's news that Russia was withdrawing some troops faded in the European session, with the STOXX 600 pan-European index ceding some early gains to close barely up 0.04 per cent.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat, the S&P 500 gained 0.27 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.1 per cent. All 11 sectors of the S&P early in the session were higher, with the exception of the energy index, but stocks pared losses after the Fed minutes came out.
“The reading of the Fed minutes is less hawkish, less aggressive rate hikes, at least initially,” said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder.
“The minutes are little bit more dovish than we heard (Fed Chair Jerome) Powell talk in the post Fed meeting press conference in January,” he said.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe reversed course to post a 0.52 per cent gain.
Earlier, US retail sales rebounded sharply in January amid a surge in purchases of motor vehicles and other goods, but higher prices could blunt the impact on economic growth this quarter.
Data showed retail sales rose 3.8 per cent last month, almost double the consensus forecast by economists of a 2.0 per cent gain.
Peter Kinsella, head of FX at Swiss private bank UBP, said “the surprise element is gone” and that markets had priced in a certain deterioration in the Ukraine crisis.
“Given where oil is trading, the ruble should be at 65-66 against the dollar so an awful lot is priced in and the same is true of equities in Europe,” Kinsella said, estimating that gold too was trading with a US$100 premium to current fair value.
The Russian ruble gained 0.71 per cent to 75.19 per dollar as fears of immediate military action waned, for the moment.
Spot gold, which on Tuesday hit the highest level since June 2021 at around US$1,879 per ounce, added 0.9 per cent to US$1,869.56. US gold futures settled down 0.8 per cent at US$1,871.50.
Inflation was still a market concern as UK data showed consumer prices increased at the fastest annual pace in nearly 30 years, reinforcing chances the Bank of England will raise rates for a third meeting in a row.
Canada's annual inflation rate accelerated again in January to hit a fresh 30-year high of 5.1 per cent, bolstering the case for a steady series of interest rate hikes.
US Treasury and euro zone government bond yields extended their decline. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was down 0.5 basis points to 2.040 per cent.
The dollar index fell 0.323 per cent, with the euro up 0.29 per cent to US$1.1389. ― Reuters
